Fleshpoundity: Element of Generosity

Rarity stood, bent over the dress, glaring at it, watching as the fabric grew and intertwined, forming itself into her latest creation, when a knock came at the door.

“Come,” Rarity grumbled, and the door opened. Into the room walked Twilight Sparkle and Applejack, smiling pleasantly. Rarity returned the gesture.

“Hello Rarity,” Twilight began, “I know it’s a little beneath what you normally do, and it is a little rude to just ask like this, but you are the best seamstress in town… do you think you could fix a button for me?”

“Of course,” Rarity growled, “Not… problem.”

“Thanks, Rarity,” the purple unicorn replied, levitating a worn-out looking frock towards the Fleshpound. Rarity took it gently in her blenders, setting it on a table to the side.

“Will fix later,” she growled, turning back to her newest creation in progress, “Come… tomorrow.”

“Will do, thanks again, Rarity. I really need this dress for the Grand Galloping Gal-” Twilight cut herself off as Rarity turned around suddenly. “Something wrong?”

Rarity looked over at the... honestly, it didn't even deserve the word 'dress.' It was more like a glorified tube. Sort of thing. She looked at this 'dress,' back to Twilight, back to the fabric masquerading as something it was not. She sighed, a deep, heavy, breathy expulsion of air, and the pumps on her chest turned red. She slammed a drill down into the table, splintering the weak wood into a million pieces and ripping the faux-frock to shreds. Twilight and Applejack jumped backwards, the orange mare actually yelping in surprise. Seeing Rarity rage was not uncommon. Seeing it this… suddenly was a bit less typical.

“NO!” Rarity cried, “MAKE NEW DRESS.”

“Al-alright!” Twilight stammered out, and the red glow faded to yellow.

“Applejack,” Rarity sought the attention of her other friend, and growled in thought for a moment. “Make you dress too. Can’t go to Gala in normal clothes.”

“No, Rares, it’s fine, you don’t need to-”

For a moment the pumps flared red again.

“Or you know you can do what you want, if’n it means that much to you,” Applejack said quickly. Rarity smiled, and turned back to her work. Applejack and Twilight started inching towards the door. They, like Rarity herself, were aware of the whole ‘respawning’ thing (after a particularly scarring incident involving a magician named Trixie), but it didn’t make being shredded any less unpleasant. Without warning, there was a thunderous crash, and a blue blur broke through the ceiling.

“Sorry Rarity!” Rainbow Dash apologized quickly as she stood up, the big Flespound staring over at her in an irritated manner.

“IDEA!” Rarity yelled suddenly, “MAKE DASH DRESS TOO!”

“Uh, what?” the three ponies asked in unison.

“AND FLUTTERSHY,” Rarity continued, picking up Rainbow Dash and swinging her around like a doll, “PINKIE TOO, MAKE ALL DRESSES, HAVE OWN FASHION SHOW!”

“What,” Rainbow Dash repeated, flatly. “Can you put me down now?”

Rarity grunted her acknowledgment and placed her friend on the ground before continuing. “Make dresses for all friends. Go to Gala together, look amazing. Have fashion show before to show how beautiful you all are,” the Fleshpound explained, before semi-quietly adding, “and as advertisement.”

“Well that seems like a fantastic idea but really I think we should be going isn’t that right Applejack and Rainbow Dash,” Twilight spoke frantically and without pause, eyes glued to Rarity’s massive, spiked gauntlets. She was getting used to being around the behemoth, but the Fleshpound’s temper could make her somewhat unpredictable, and Twilight would be a liar if she said it didn’t put a her a little on edge. Nodding their agreement, the earth mare and Pegasus followed their purple friend out the door and left Rarity alone to work on their new dresses, and hopefully not destroy too much else.

About a week had passed, and Rarity had summoned her friends to her house to see the fruits of her mysterious labor.

“New dresses!” Rarity bellowed proudly, making a sweeping gesture with one arm to indicate the newly-created outfits. “Swanky!”

Rarity’s friends stared blankly.

“AMAZING?” Rarity repeated her arm motion, thinking perhaps they hadn’t noticed the dresses. Her friends continued to stare blankly. “What?”

“They’re really… something,” Twilight laughed nervously, unsure of how to get the words out. The other Elements nodded and murmured their agreement.

“It’s… nice,” Fluttershy said quietly, ears flicking downward dejectedly.

“Not what… had in mind?” Rarity questioned, looking around her.

“It’s just… not quite as cool as I’d imagined,” Rainbow Dash explained.

Rarity gasped in shock, but caught herself. No, she had asked what was wrong, she could take the criticism. “Can fix,” she said slowly, in a tone Twilight almost would have described as… sad.

“Rarity, really it’s okay, you don’t have to-” Applejack began.

“Insist,” Rarity grumbled, turning and walking back to the dresses, “No time to fix. Come during week, we can work together,” she growled, “So you like them.”

“Well… thanks, Rarity, really,” Twilight answered, nodding, and the girls turned and filed out.

After they left, Rarity counted slowly to twenty, and groaned loudly. Bringing one drill up, she brought it down over her own head, cracking the skull and killing herself instantly. A moment later, with a soft pop that was rather dissonant with the brutal scene before her, Rarity reappeared in the room, standing over her own corpse. She shook her head as though that might clear the frustrated thoughts, and bent over, picking up her own headless body, and began to drag it outside to put it with the rest. Rarity had learned long ago (through a careless mistake that had a remarkably happy ending) that things she killed had a tendency to respawn, as it were, including herself. This gave her ample opportunity to vent her frustration on something that would suffer no lasting mental trauma for it – herself. Plus, her bodies made wonderful fertilizer for her flower garden. Fluttershy would have a heart attack if she ever found out why Rarity’s flowers grew in so nicely. Chuckling, or rather, rumbling, to herself, Rarity continued to drag the body out of the building and into her back yard.

A slightly frazzled-looking Rarity was hard at work on another dress when a soft knock came at the door. Must be Fluttershy, she thought to herself.

“Come,” Rarity growled. For her it was speaking quietly, but it was still well loud enough to carry through the door.

“Um,” Fluttershy began, as she often did, “hello, Rarity. I just wanted to see how the dress was coming,” the demure yellow mare explained, quietly trotting over to her friend's side. Though she barely reached half-way up Rarity's thigh, the size difference didn't bother her in the slightest. In fact, she often felt the safest and most secure when she was with Rarity, though perhaps the Fleshpound's imposing figure had something to do with that.

“Progress going well,” the Pound grunted. “Like improvements?”

Fluttershy did like it. Very much so. It was beautiful, it was just so... her. But there was one thing she thought was slightly off. “Well-”

The movement was subtle. Rarity didn't turn to Fluttershy, no, she didn't even look at her. She just shifted her shoulder ever so slightly, bending her elbow just a little, the tiniest hint of tension creeping into what could have been considered a relaxed stance. The rest of her body didn't even move. Most ponies wouldn't have even noticed it. Rarity might not have even done it consciously. But Fluttershy... Fluttershy noticed. And Fluttershy closed her mouth.

Rarity's chest resonated with a questioning humm as she realized Fluttershy seemed to not be finishing her sentence.

“It's nothing, really. I took some sewing classes for a while years ago, I just thought I noticed something funny with the stitching,” the pastel pegasus explained. It was true, that was exactly what she had been going to point out. What she said next was also true, and also likely to spare everpony involved some stress. “I'm sure you know more about it than I do, Rarity. Thank you for having me check up on it. I'll be going now,” Fluttershy finished, excusing herself quickly.

Rarity turned and watched her friend leave, then turned back to the dress before her, and resumed her work.

Rarity was glaring another dress into shape and humming a tune, occasionally growling out a word in time. “Croup... hip... thread... pressed... yard... stressed... art... DRESSSSSSSSS!" That last one came out a bit louder than intended, and she hoped whoever was knocking on the door wasn't going to make a point of it. "Come," she growled loudly.

"Hey Rarity!" Rainbow Dash greeted her as she entered the room, "I was just stopping by to see how my dress was coming along."

"Dash," Rarity responded happily, stepping away from her bench to indicate the dress she had been recently working on.

"Hmm," Rainbow Dash hummed quietly to herself, "I like it, but could you make it cooler?"

"Cooler?"

"Yeah, needs to be about... twenty percent cooler," Dash replied, not looking at her friend. After a few moments of silence, she looked up, only to find Rarity glaring daggers at her. "Or, you know, you're the expert," Rainbow Dash laughed nervously, "Why don't you just do what you think is best?"

“Know best,” Rarity agreed.

“Great!” Dash acknowledged with a forced smile and an exaggerated swing of her hoof. “Well I'll be off then.”

Rarity made a noise halfway between a grunt and a chuckle as Rainbow Dash bolted. She and her friends were all very close, yes, but it was amusing – and a bit satisfying for her ego, she had to admit – to see them fear her on occasion. Grunting a chuckle, she turned back to the dress.

About a week passed since Rarity had begun reworking the dresses. While she did think she'd done a perfectly fine job with her... first drafts, as she'd taken to calling them, nothing but the best for her friends. That is to say, she wanted to make sure they were all happy with their dresses, but at the same time she did have to make sure they were nice dresses. Rarity did have a reputation to maintain, after all. Each had come in turn to see her progress on the new dresses, and each of them had seen the light and accepted Rarity's ideas as superior.

Now, all the dresses were completed, and she was ready for the grand reveal. And the fashion show. That somehow an elite Canterlot fashion-pony had heard about and decided to attend. What Hoity Toity was even doing in Ponyville was beyond her, but this was certainly a moment that could either make or break her career.

So here she cowered, behind the fancy embroidered curtains that Pinkie Pie had produced from nowhere, hoping to Celestia Hoity would like what he saw. She couldn't help but jump slightly as a hoof made contact with her lower thigh.

“Come on Rares, there's nothing to be afraid of,” Applejack said with a reassuring pat and a flick of her head to indicate Rarity's other friends, “Look at us, look at our dresses. We are gorgeous, if'n ya don't mind me saying. We really shoulda just listened to you in the first place. Sorry for making you make two dresses for each of us.”

Rarity nodded, exhaling heavily, but quietly enough that it wouldn't be heard by the audience. Applejack was right, everyone did look absolutely beautiful. Rarity smiled, torn lips pulling at awkward, painful-looking angles, indicating her acceptance of the apology. Through the curtain, she heard the music pick up.

“Well girls,” Twilight whispered excitedly, “I guess we're on! Rainbow, you're up first!”

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, nodded at Rarity, and took a step out onto the runway.

“Well... I think that went pretty well,” Fluttershy said quietly. The girls sat around the one table still in one piece, though a missing leg left it a little wobbly. Twilight was rubbing a napkin against Rainbow Dash's cheek, trying to get a smear of blood off of it.

“Yeah. I mean...” Dash muttered, head being pushed to the side as the intensity of Twilight's efforts, “Twi. Stop. I can wash it off later.”

“Sorry.”

“Anyways, I mean... it's not like he's gonna stay dead.”

“Fashion career will,” Rarity moaned. “Pathetic.”

“You're not pathetic, Rares,” Applejack said, once again bringing a hoof up to comfort her friend. She awkwardly retracted it again when she felt something warm and sticky on Rarity's forearm.

“Hey girls, no need to be so down!” Pinkie piped up after another few seconds of silence. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake made a whole batch of strawberry jam filled donuts today! They always let me take some of the leftovers at the end of the day and...”

Pinkie stopped, taking notice of the hollow gazes fixed on her.

“Maybe not tonight then.”